Greg Howes scored both goals for the Seattle Sounders
to keep Seattle unbeaten at home and add to the misery of the A-League's
perpetual travelers, the US Pro-40 squad.

With Sounders keeper Bill May earning the clean sheet, Howes gave the
Sounders all they needed by finishing off a pass from Viet Nguyen in the
30th minute, then sent the crowd of 2,262 home happy by burying a free
kick at the end of extra time.

Seattle are now 6-0-2 at home and 9-5-3 overall for 45 points, while
the barnstorming Road Warriors continued to be more barn than storm, dropping
to 5-12-1 with the loss and staying at 22 points.

First Half

The match started out slowly, with early forays disappearing off defenders'
boots for the most part. The early highlight came in the eighth minute,
with defender Scott Jenkins keeping the ball in with some fancy footwork
before rifling a cross from the left that found no Sounders at the other
end.

Howes made an early stab in the 13th minute, but his 25-yarder howled
well above the net, and teammate Andrew Gregor's shot a minute later met
the same fate after a Darren Sawatzky run down the left side set him up
nicely.

In the 16th minute, Sounder defender Craig Waibel stripped Fabio Zuniga
of the ball, performed a nice give-and-go with Gregor on the left side,
then zeroed in on US Pro-40 keeper Matt Nyman before firing his shot wide
left.

US Pro-40 countered immediately, earning a free kick a minute later.
Maurizio Rocha's free kick from 35 yards out sailed into the penalty area,
but May handled the resulting header.

A Sawatzky cross went nowhere, and Jenkins' long throw in deep in US
Pro-40 territory went straight into Nyman's hands. Jenkins then worked
his way past Dominic Schell in the 23rd minute, only to fire the ball straight
on the ground at Nyman.

A weak cross from the right side paid off an unexpected dividend as
Schell felt the need to head it over the end line. But road warrior Tahj
Jakins cleared away Nguyen's corner kick.

Tim Sahaydak then pushed Sawatzky hard enough to earn a yellow card.
Gregor's ensuing free kick in the 26th minute found Sawatzky, but Sawatzky
found Nyman instead of the net.

Nguyen then made his way to just inside the penalty area, but the offside
flag went up for Gregor.

30' Howes (Nguyen). Then Nguyen collected a long ball and turned
to attack the US Pro-40 defense, drawing defenders to him before laying
it off to Howes, who smacked it into the net from the edge of the penalty
area for Seattle's first goal.

Howes then socked a screamer past the far post in the 34th minute off
a free kick, Sawatzky found his cross blocked, and two Gregor corner kicks
went nowhere thanks to Nyman's hands and Chris Houser's head.

Jakins played a ball on to the left for Rocha on the wing and he almost
-- but not quite -- crossed it into the net. Shaker Asad's yellow card
for fouling Waibel turned out to be the only other highlight of the first
half as the Sounders dominated ball possession.

Halftime: Seattle 1 - 0 US Pro-40

The second half saw a more evenly balanced match as the road warriors
came out and held possession for the first few minutes. Still, Sawatzky's
50th-minute shot from out of the penalty area was the first shot of the
half, although again it beelined straight to Nyman.

Jenkins headed away a Rocha cross. Gregor sent the ball high over the
crossbar. Sawatzky received a nice cross, but lost the ball out over the
right touchline.

May punched the ball out of the penalty area in the 56th minute, and
a minute later dove to his right to snag a Houser shot from the top of
the penalty area after a cross from Mario Longo. Longo had come on for
Sergio Salas to start the second half.

A Sawatzky-to-Nguyen pass ended up as a cross to Nyman, and then Ali
John Utush's handball set Pro-40 up at the top of the penalty arc with
a free kick in the 59th minute, but Rocha belted it high. A high kick also
plagued Longo in the 61st minute.

May's goal kick following Longo's kick nailed a passing seagull, but
the seagull stayed airborne. Continuing with cruelty to animals, a kick
over the touch line ricocheted off Seattle mascot Sammy Sounder in the
27th minute.

Seattle cleared away a couple of troublesome balls, then Nguyen's pass
to Howes resulted in nothing before a Utush shot missed the near post.

A Nguyen foul killed a Sounder attack in the 69th minute. Two US Pro-40
reserves then started talking on a cell phone, although it could not be
determined whether they were ordering pizza or calling for help on solving
Seattle's defense.

Erik Storkson replaced Gregor in the 72nd minute, only to come out after
11 minutes in favor of Kei Kinoshita. Apparently Storkson's recovery from
a sprained ankle isn't yet complete. Seattle's Kieran Barton and Pro-40's
Seth Trembly then each saw yellow after a 79th-minute confrontation after
Trembly retaliated against Barton's push.

Longo's long throw-in then got headed past the far post for a corner
kick, but May collected that at the far post to deny US Pro-40 yet again.

Utush turned over the ball deep in his own territory to Asad, but May
made his second great save of the match, stopping Asad with a dive to the
left that not only screamed for May to be wearing a cape, but also kept
the ball inbounds.

Trembly buried a free kick into the Seattle wall, then May puched out
a Houser shot. Dick McCormick's 88th-minute free kick found Sawatzky's
bemulleted head deep in the penalty area, but his header went off the crossbar.

US Pro-40 made one last charge in extra time, but Barton headed away
Houser's throw in to end the threat.

90' Howes. Rocha then fouled Sawatzky near the Pro-40 penalty
area at the very end of extra time, setting up Howes' perfect screamer
into the top right corner to add an emphatic ending to the match.